Tag: Kid Fun

Easy, Delicious Smores Waffle Cones
This dreary January weather has me dreaming of warm sunshine, sandy toes, and summer traditions. So I’m throwing it back to one of my favorite memories to chase away the winter blues.

Every summer, our crew heads to Horsetooth Reservoir, where we stay in cozy lakefront cabins. It’s become a beloved family tradition—20 to 30 of us packed in with beach towels, card games, and enough snacks to feed a small army. The kids spend hours playing on the beach while the adults catch up over cards and campfire stories. It’s pure joy.

Before each trip, I do what every snack-loving mom does—I hit Pinterest. And this year’s find? S’mores Waffle Cones.

Yes. You heard that right.
S’MORES. IN. WAFFLE. CONES.

It’s basically everything that is good and right in the world:
- Waffle cones
- Marshmallows
- Chocolate
- And a ridiculous amount of candy
We went all in with:
Oreos, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Cherry Nibs, Peanut M&Ms, chocolate chips, and pecans.

We let the kids go wild filling their cones, then wrapped them in foil and placed them over the fire. A few minutes later—magic.

Messy? Yup.
Ooey-gooey? Oh yeah.
Absolutely delicious? 100%.

The kids were thrilled, the adults were sneaking seconds, and yes—we’ll definitely be making these again. Next time, we’re throwing gummy bears into the mix. Because why not?

Summer can’t come soon enough.
January 7, 2025
“Tie-Dye” Cupcakes

Recently I made a Rainbow layer cake for my son’s birthday. I had a box of cake mix leftover and thought I would try making a cupcake version of this cake.

I made the White Cake Mix and then divided it into 4 bowls, I dyed each bowl and then scooped spoonfuls into muffins cups.

I baked for 15 minutes at 350. They kids loved them. Looking back, I wish I would have swirled the colors around a little bit with a toothpick.

I did not frost them, too messy and less sugar. If you make these, share your link in the comments please, I would love to see them!

August 19, 2015
Summer-in-Winter Party
This past weekend, with several storms looming over most of the country, it was cold and snowy. While the country was bracing itself for it all we were getting dressed up in shorts, tshirts and sandals.

Crazy? Nope! Just a Summer-in-Winter party my very good friend puts on every year. Everyone was encouraged to wear summer clothes. The kids thought we were crazy at first!

We started off the evening with summer related words taped to our backs, we then had so ask questions and try to guess what the word was. A good ice breaker.

Then we had a obstacle course of sorts and teamed up in pairs, 1 child + 1 adult.

The events included:
- ring toss
- egg on a spoon
- spooning water into a cup
- a ping pong toss
It was so much fun, I was teamed up with my 4 year old! He did really good!

After that we gathered and everyone was asked to put 3 pieces of bubble gum into their mouths, chew until soft and then pull it out and sculpt something.

Ewweee! It was funny but ooeey-gooey. Here are some of the results:

On to the food. Is there another better than yummy summer party food?

Grilled hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, fresh fruit, pico de gallo and chips.

We had a great time and look forward to next year! I think the snow storm we had made it that much more fun!

We even had to turn off the fireplace because we were so hot from playing games!
February 10, 2014
Fun Christmas Countdown Project

There is nothing like this time of year. Carols, cookies, friends, families, lights, and JESUS! My friend and I wanted to do something fun for the little ones to countdown to Christmas. We decided on little wrapped presents each marked with a day # representing how many days left until Christmas. Our countdown began December 1^st so I had my kids start with 24 so they would know how many days until Christmas.

Supplies Needed:
Toilet paper rolls (12, cut in half to make 24)

Tissue paper cut into 7×4 rectangles

Pipe cleaner to close ends (approx. 4″)

Avery Circle printer labels (optional)

24 Fun, inexpensive gifts (see list) We purchased ours from three different stores – the Dollar Tree, Walmart and Mardel. We only purchased multipacks, nothing individual.

We spent somewhere around $30 for 6 kids total, not bad!

Wrap the roll in the tissue paper, tie one end with a pipe cleaner, insert prize, tie the other end, add # sticker.

We displayed them in a big basket, each night when we do Advent we let the kids open their prizes.

Start now! Your kids will love it!

FULL LIST of goodies:

1. A Christmas Stamp

2. Drum Ornament

3. Jingle Bell Ornament

4. Gumball

5. Jesus tattoo

6. Noahs Ark eraser

7. Christmas eraser

8. Mini YoYo

9. Sticker

10. Mini- Bubbles

11. Christmas Wristband

12. Christmas Ring

13. Jeweled Ring

14. Snake

15. Jelly Frogs

16. Mini games

17. Bouncy Balls

18. Chocolate

19. Mini – Slinky

20. Glow in the Dark flower

21. Avengers necklace

We doubled up on a couple to finish.

Enjoy this Christmas, spend some time each night talking about the arrival of our Savior! Merry Christmas!

December 4, 2013
Backyard Fun

Now that we have the luxury of a backyard I am always looking for fun stuff to do or setup for the boys back there. Our latest venture was inspired by Pinterest, of course. It is little town setup for the boys to drive their Hotwheels and Matchbox cars around in. I used to love to play with my brothers cars out in the yard, I would literally spend hours out there. When i saw the ideas for creating a place for cars to cruise, I was pumped.

My oldest was the most excited, he jumped right on board. He went to the room to gather supplies like buildings and roads from his Thomas the Train set. I went to the recycle bin looking for boxes. We met out in a spot in the yard. It was a great spot because the grass didn’t grow there so it is dirt.

I had so much fun setting this up with Preston. Once we were done we invited the little brothers to come play with it. They were amazed by it!

It’s the simple things. What a fun day!

July 3, 2012
A Happy Father’s Day

We love celebrating Daddy in our house, so Father’s Day is just another opportunity to show him how much he means to us.

This Father’s Day we got him something that the boys have been asking for and so has Daddy. A good old-fashioned BB Gun. I didn’t just get any gun either, I bought him a Classic Daisy Red Rider BB Gun! I was excited just buying it. Of course we could have chosen from any number of semi-automatics, ones with scopes but I just had to get the classic. Plus I did read how it is unbeatable for kids just learning, since I knew our 8 year would be using it a lot. It sure is pretty.

I went to Amazon, which I love. They were selling a fun kit that included targets, bb’s and safety glasses. It arrived 2 days later, then the next day we gave it to Daddy. He had the biggest grin. They all went out and shot for 2 hours! I think they used about 400 bb’s.

My goal, is to have my boys learn safety above all. Of course we all know that if you have a BB gun “you’ll shoot your eye”, hee hee. Here’s to being safe!

June 19, 2012
An Educational Trip to the Flea Market

You might call it a Swap Meet, Rummage Sale, Outdoor Market, those are all other names for Flea Markets. I noticed our Flea Market changed their named to Mile High Marketplace, sounds better but we all still call it “the flea market”. We took a trip 1 early Saturday morning. We woke the kids up, we all got ready and got in the car. We arrived at the Market at 8:30 AM. No line to get in, plenty of great parking!

We left without eating and figured we would play it by ear. What a good idea, there were fresh fruits everywhere. Since we could not wash anything we played it safe with bananas. They were perfectly ripe, fresh and a hit with the kids. Yummy!

This turned out to be an excellent educational opportunity. We talked about bartering and trading. We had learned of this concept when we were studying the pioneers. Now they get to see how that can play out.

More learning fun:

Learning about the hard and hot work that goes into delicious kettle corn. How does it pop? What do they flavor it with?

Hot and Fresh Kettle Corn

Seeing tons of fresh produce, learning names and sampling them

What are these? How are they cooked? What do we use them in?

Did you know there are hundreds of cheeses in the world? This store has a good variety of Mexican and other cheeses.

We talked about how all cheese melts differently, some are hard, some soft and why it’s good to have variety because of all we use cheese for. We took turns naming dishes with cheese.

The best part, in my opinion, was teaching the boys how to spend their money wisely. When we first got there, they ran to every booth, wanted something from each. Once they realized that they each had a budget and there was hundreds of booths, they learned to be conservative and more picky about what they chose.

Preston counts his money at a vendor booth.

Paying the seller

The boys showing off their first finds!

This was a great experience and the kids were thanking us over and over for bringing them. We will be back!

April 12, 2012
Homemade Puffy Paint

Have I told you I love Pinterest? Of course I have! My most recent inspiration came from a Microwave Puffy Paint Pin, which led me here: Mom’s Crafty Place. She posted really great pictures, my kids and I were sold. We did it right there and then. We loved it and used every last bit, will do this again!

Thanks to Mom’s Crafty Space for the inspiration!

March 11, 2012
A Field Trip to the Denver Zoo

A Field Trip to the Denver Zoo

Thanks to Groupon we were able to spend 5 wonderful hours at the Zoo. We went in late November. It was chilly that morning but I checked the weather and it promised to be warm. It ended up being about 57 degrees, for a Coloradan(oan?) that is practically Summer, lol.

When we arrived we were all bundled up and the skies were gray, it was 9:45. By the time we left, we were hot, without coats and the skies were blue. I love Autumn in Colorado, bright blue skies, brisk fresh air.

There were not many people there, so we took our time, enjoyed every sight to see. We rambled along and learned a lot, talked about everything. We sat and had a leisurely lunch next to the Seals, they are so cute and fun to watch. We were happy to have Cousin Adam along with us. The entire field trip was fantastic.

How far can you jump?

Cute little Snow Fox

A Unique Creature – The Okapis – a cousin of the giraffe (look at his head). He had a super-velvety coat.

The Majestic Lion

Samuel with a lizard, I love his reflection on the glass!

Playing iSpy fish

Climbing the Hippo Statue

I love these animal flags! This picture was taken on the way out, check out the blue sky and compare to the first picture, that is why I love Colorado!

After such a fun-filled gorgeous day, we didn’t want it to end so we topped it off with some choclate milks at a downtown Starbucks.

Brothers enjoying a beverage.

Checking out the sights

In the words of my oldest “This was one of the best days ever!”

January 25, 2012
Adventures in My Father’s World Week 2 -Jesus Suncatcher

We are loving Adventures in My Fathers World. The Bible portion starts with Jesus, His birth, on to when he starts preaching. We are also learning the different names of Jesus. During week 2 we got to make a Jesus suncatcher. The was fun and easy. This final result is pretty!

You need Wax Paper, crayon shavings, glue, scissors, construction paper, an iron and newsprint.

Cut out 2” letters from construction paper

Arrange the letters on wax paper and sprinkle on the crayon shavings, be conservative.

Place another sheet of wax paper on top, cover with newsprint and iron on low. Be sure to have paper under the wax as well.

We added construction paper border to match our letters.

hanging in the window

We will definitely use this technique to create other projects in the future. I am thinking maybe a Mayflower silhouette with blue and white crayons shavings, with yellow for a sun.

October 5, 2011